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This ONE Feng Shui task will guarantee a calmer home with children

Posted on January 10, 2014

feng shui

noun /ˈfəNG ˈSHwē/ /-SHwā/

(in Chinese thought) A system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy (qi), and whose favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into account when siting and designing buildings

I have noticed over the years that those families that allow their children’s toys to take over their home have the most stress in their lives, exhibit signs of anxiety, anxiousness, and frustration over the child rearing process. They appear frazzled and discombobulated. They have to deal with all of the challenges of raising their children and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity and calm. It can all be overwhelming at times. A chaotic home doesn’t help at all.

One sure fire trick to a having a less stressful life at home with the children is to adopt at least one aspect of one particular element of Feng Shui: decluttering.

To declutter your home life and be a little bit more organized and adjusted when planning outings, family meals and just trying to keep it together, limit the amount of toys that are laying about the home.

Some families live in homes that look like a toy store exploded in it. The parents allow their children to leave their toys anywhere and everywhere. But it doesn’t take much effort to simply designate ONE SECTION (maybe two) of the home for toys . Those areas should be the play room, the kids room or one area of the apartment that is quartered off and situated with a toy chest, storage bin or some place where you can quickly toss all the toys hanging out all over the house.

The tough part may be to stick to this one simple rule.

When the kids are not playing with a toy, there is really no need for it to be taking up space on the kitchen table or creating a tripping hazard for you or a guest. Either you, your partner or trained kids if they are old enough should make a concerted effort to gather all errant toys and keep them in the designated area.

It seems pretty intuitive, huh?

Over time, it will become a habit or second nature and you will find toys are not strewn about as much anymore. I do this with other areas of my home and life. All papers, books, newspapers, invoices, magazines are usually put away in our home office. All clothes go in a hamper, closet or bedroom. Dishes, cups and silverware discovered anywhere in the house are picked up and taken in the kitchen.

Think of this mantra: “There is a place for Everything and Everything in its place.”

Maybe it is a concept easy for Type A, first-born, Virgos like me to grasp, but following at least that that one simple rule is GUARANTEED to ease the mind, at least slightly, and help you breathe easier and be less stressed out when you are at home.

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Pregnant Actress Emily Blunt goes on a $35,000 baby shopping spree

Posted on January 10, 2014

Mom-to-be British actress Emily Blunt spent a cool $35,000 in one day’s shopping spree stacking up for items for her baby daughter’s arrival. TMZ reports`that over the weekend The Devil Wears Prada star purchased from luxury baby store Petit Tresor a crib, changing table and other furniture that come the Hollywood Regency Club Collection. Afterwards, Daily Mail states she headed over to the top spot for celebs in tinsel town, Bel Bambini. There she purchased a bunch of must-have necessities like nursing pillows, and more.

Wowza! If you got its, splurge on the best for your little princess.

Blunt, and her husband John Krasinski are expecting their first child together. They announced the news this past September.

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Viral Nation: 3 emotional Viral stories you should know

Posted on January 9, 2014

Each week, certain local stories and videos catch national attention and go viral. Here are three viral stories that caught our eye this week we wanted to share:

Daddy blogger at DaddyDoinWork.com, Doyin Richards, posted a blog post back in October that included a photo of him baby wearing his youngest daughter, born last July 13, while doing his 2 1/2 year old daughter’s hair. The post, “I Have a Dream: That People Will View a Picture Like This and Not Think It’s a Big Deal,” Richards wrote about being a doting dad and meeting the challenge to do something moms do all the time. He wanted people to see the photo and see it as norm. It got republished on The Good Men Project and eventually landed on the pages of Yahoo! Shine. Awesome!

In a matter of hours of the photo to the story being posted on The Good Men Project, the photo went viral, quickly amassing nearly 5,000 shares, 3,000 comments, and 190,000 likes.

Sadly, some of those commenting on the story had some not-so-nice things to say: “He probably rented those kids. They don’t even look like him,” and “I would bet anything that you’re a deadbeat.”

Richards, a college graduate, and totally present father was understanding of all the emotional reaction to the photo, telling Yahoo Shine:

“The media doesn’t portray fathers as caregivers,” she said. “We’re seen as bumbling fools trying to figure out parenthood, or macho men pushing their kids into the NFL. The other issue is that there’s a stereotype that black fathers are deadbeats.”

Sad and unfortunate. I have my own photo of my husband doing our daughter’s hair. It should be a movement that we all share that photo to combat the negative deadbeats out there.

But perhaps, it’s better to focus on the thousands more that left positive comments and not bring shine to the miserable negative few.

Shine on, papa!

This hilarious Old Spice commercial is very relatable for moms to boys like myself. I spotted it on a friend’s Facebook Wall and I’ve gone back to it again and again, cracking up each time. It was only uploaded on January 3 and has gotten over 3 million views already! Hilarious!

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

Post by Trent Shelton.

Finally, a mom shared a video of her daughter who suffers from Alopecia on the website of a motivational speaker Trent Shelton whose outreach video the little girl was watching when she learned a lesson about beauty. It got over 160,000 shares. It’s a tearjerker. Grab your tissues and watch it until the end.

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Celeb Moms Rock People’s Choice Awards Red Carpet (PHOTOS)

Posted on January 9, 2014

Last night, at the People’s Choice Awards held January 8, LIVE at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, Califrornia, many of our Bellyitch Bumpwatch moms of the past graced the red carpet looking amazing.

Here are those we spotted:

Jennifer Hudson stole the night with her moving speech accepting the Humanitarian award for a charity she founded after her mother, brother and nephew were gunned down in Chicago. Before that moment, she wowed in a white fitted Kaufmanfranco dress from the Spring 2014 line and some cute sandals with perfected understated matted lips. It matched well with her new pixie cut and bronzed eye shadow. Perfect!

Britney Spears was a big winner last night, walking away with a Favorite Female Performer, Favorite Pop Singer and Fan Music Favorite awards. She looked sizzling hot in a nude with black embroidered accent Mikael D dress from the designers’ Fall 2013 line

Malin Akerman was showing off the girls in a Cushnie Et Ochs Spring 2014 dress with an interesting window peephole front in the bodice. Not feeling it much. But the mary janes on her feet are rocking.

Heidi Klum did it again in another over-the-top look this time by Giorgio Armani from his Fall 2013 collection. She went with Christian Louboutin heels and Lorraine Schwartz jewels. No comment.

Anna Faris looked absolutely stunning in a fitted sheer nude floor-length Naeem Khan top and skirt set. She walked the carpet with hubby Chris Pratt.

Jessica Alba did Winter White as well in a fitted Jason Wu bandage dress with gold accents and white Casadei pumps with Jennifer Meyer jewels. She definitely was on the best dressed list this round.

Sarah Michelle Gellar donned a Sachin + Babi dress which looked elegant though looked a bit too matronly for the youngish actress. Similarly the Jimmy Choo heels were safe and a bit underwelming. She accented the black and white ensemble with Neil Lane jewels.

Sandra Bullock looked amazing in a Peter Pilotto Resort 2014 embroidered overlay dress. The parted hair was a winner and her neutral makeup flawless. Gawgeous, Sandy!

Emily Deschanel in a BCBGMAXAZRIA dress accented by Miss Delicious shoes, House of Lavande earrings, Swarovski ring and an Edie Parke clutch. Cute. Can we have the shoes?

Melissa Joan Hart’s hair, make up looked gorgeous. The Swarvoski earrings were on point, matched with an Oroton clutch. She’s catching flak today for her strapless asymmetrical El Lay dress which isn’t really bad at all. It’s colorful and stands out, works with her shape and has people talking. Last fall, she released a book “Melissa Explains it All” which detailed heavy drug use and random hook-ups with celeb co-stars. Oh my! These Disney stars boy!

Mom to be Drew Barrymore won a Spring 2014 Vionnet dress which lacked shape and had her lookgin boxy. Barrymore joked on stage, while giving out the award for Favorite Comedic movie, about Ellen DeGeneres calling her fat as a joke. Barrymore is expecting her second child with hubby Will Kopelman.

Check out the video of the moment below:

photos: Zimbio, Starcast, Getty

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Texas’ fetus protection law requires brain dead pregnant woman stay on life support

Posted on January 9, 2014

A brain-dead Texas pregnant woman will not be removed from life support against her family’s wishes because of a state law.

After suffering a pulmonary aneurysm last November that ultimately left her brain dead, Marlise Munoz would have been permitted to die naturally per her wishes in an advanced directive. Munoz was and her husband Erick is a paramedic and are therefore well informed about last wishes.

But the Texas Advance Directives Act states, “a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient.”

Marlise was only 19 weeks pregnant at the time and if the arguments for keeping her alive for the delivery of her baby is a hard one considering that the baby would not have been viable at 19 weeks any way. Right to life proponents may want to keep her on life support until 24 weeks when the baby would potentially be more viable outside the womb.

But there is no guarantee. Over the past 30 years, there have been 19 cases of pregnant women kept alive for the sake of the babies they were carrying, but only 2 babies survived.

“It’s our decision that we didn’t want to live in that condition,” Erick Munoz told The Washington Post in a telephone interview from his wife’s hospital room.

He added that a doctor pronounced his wife brain-dead but administrators at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas replied that she has not been officially declared brain dead and remains hospitalized with a serious condition.

“We are following the law of the state of Texas,” hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe said. “This is not a difficult decision for us. We are following the law.”

This case hearkens to the 2005 Terri Schiavo case where her family didn’t want her ventilator removed but Schiavo’s husband did and the very recent Jahi McMath case of a brain dead teen whose parents don’t want removed from life support though her parents were permitted to leave the hospital recently.

It’s quite the moral and ethical conundrum.

What are your thoughts?

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The Reigning Most Stylish pregnant woman Ever gave birth (PHOTOS)

Posted on January 9, 2014

Can we pause and bid a hearty congratulations to the most fabulously styled woman on Instagram, Up Close and Stylish on the birth of her baby girl over the Christmas Holidays?

“She completes me,” the anonymous fashion “blogger” writes on her IG page with a following of over 700,000. “What an amazing year 2013 has been! Thank you all for your wish me wells, likes and cheer ons. XOXO #Cartier ‘Love’ bracelets, #Gelish nails (white and rose gold) and onesie from #RalphLauren.”

Beautiful. Congrats, mama!

And while we’re at it, can we just do a quick recap on this head fashionista-in-charge’s last few looks of her pregginista days? Yes we can!

And if anyone tells you that you can’t be pregnant and fly, show them these photos, please.

But er um…how did she look like this on New Year’s Eve after just giving birth weeks prior tho?

Yassss! Gawgeous!

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REVIEW: FastAction™ Fold Jogger Click Connect™ Travel System offers bang for your buck

Posted on January 8, 2014

We asked elite runner and new mom Mary Beth Chosak of the blog SlowFoodFastPace.com to test out for us Graco’s latest jogging stroller, the Fast Action Jogger Travel System. ($319.99)

(For a very thorough assessment of the stroller including comparisons to another jogger she already owns, check out the full and comprehensive review on her blog HERE.)

We’ve got the soup and nuts summary below:

OVERALL PERFORMANCE If you’re in the market for a stroller that you can jog with from the time your little one is a newborn well into toddlerhood, the Graco FastAction Jogger Travel System is a fair value that will give you some bang for your buck.

VALUE On paper, the Graco FastAction Jogger Travel System has a lot going for it. It retails for about one hundred less than the BOB Revolution SE, yet it comes with a car seat, a base, a child tray, and a parent handlebar console. If you buy all those things a la carte and trick out a higher end jogger until it has all the same features as the FastAction Travel System, you would have spent roughly twice as much as you would have in opting for the Graco.

APPEARANCE Aesthetically, the Graco is a snazzy ride (I tested the chili red model). It’s gender neutral and looks to be made of durable material that would stay looking fresh after years of use. Taking a closer inspection of the features of the stroller, some of the parts are plastic and not as durable as first thought.

SMOOTHNESS OF RIDE The tires are large and inflatable and the decent suspension provides a comfortable ride on a level and paved surface. I tried it on a paved exercise trail with our 15 pound five-month old in the SnugRide infant seat as well as with our 30 pound two-year old without the infant seat. The ride was plenty smooth enough for both children on the trail, though it felt somewhat rickety on the sidewalk.

ANCILLARY FEATURES The stroller has some snazzy little features that add comfort, safety, and convenience. The handlebar console has two cup holders and a place for your smartphone that will come in handy if your tot, like mine, appreciates some tunes on your runs. The storage basket under the seat is fairly large and accessible. The stroller has a tether, which I consider a valuable safety feature, though the placement of the tether near the basket of the stroller is curious; it could easily attach to the handlebars instead and I don’t know why the manufacturer would unnecessarily use a long strap on any children’s product. The locks on the rear wheels are well-placed and effective, though it would be handy to be able to fully lock and unlock the stroller in one place instead of on both the left and right wheels. The stroller includes safety reflectors on the rear tires.

EASE OF FOLDING The stroller does fold up easily. The one-second, one-hand fold is nice, though I’ve found that once any stroller is yours, folding it up becomes second nature in no time. The FastAction has a kickstand, which can get in the way when you’re collapsing the stroller.

SNUGRIDE INFANT SEAT The infant seat is fine. The harness secures easily and my baby seemed very comfortable in it. However, the SnugRide is a popular car seat that’s been around for a while. This is one of Graco’s bread and butter products, and it has had plenty of iterations on it to get it right. So it was surprising to me that the handle bar and the canopy get in each other’s way. This is annoying and not a big deal, although to boot, the canopy is neither taut nor sturdy-feeling. The levers that secure the base of the car seat to the car’s latch system do not have the push-button feature that some car seats do; I consider this a nice feature, even though it is just a frill that you’ll hardly ever appreciate unless you take the infant seat base in and out of your car regularly.

SHORTCOMINGS An important reason the Graco disappoints as a jogger is the poorly-designed front wheel lock. This isn’t obvious until you get a jogger out on a downhill (with precious cargo inside), or even just get moving at a steady clip, but the front wheel really should lock to give you maximum stability. When you’re walking with a stroller, a swivel feature in the front wheel is convenient. When you’re running, a sudden swivel caused by a pebble or bump on the trail can mean you wobble or lose control.

The other place where the FastAction Jogger strikes out is the canopy. It’s not large enough to completely shade your child. While somewhat useful, I wouldn’t consider it sufficient protection from UV exposure. If heading out on a sunny day with this stroller, slather on the sunscreen or have your babe don a hat and long sleeves. The mesh window that’s designed to let you peer in and check on your passenger is too small to be useful, and I found myself simply pulling back the canopy to check on my toddler.

Also, short folks like myself (5’ 1’’) may find the handlebar placement on this stroller a little too high.

SUMMARY The Graco FastAction Jogger Travel System is a good jogging stroller, but in this mama’s view, not the best. If you’ll be using the stroller extensively for running, you’re bound to notice some of the Graco’s shortcomings. And like all joggers, it’s big and heavy. If you want something you can use to jog a mile or two once in a while on smooth and even terrain, and you don’t mind the small and flimsy canopy, then the Graco may be just fine. And given that a jogger would be one of many, many pieces of baby gear you’ll ever buy, it’s nice to have an option by a reputable manufacturer at this price point.

If you’re thinking of getting this stroller, consider getting it from our partners Amazon.com at a discount for $269.99.

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Eva Marcille’s Girls Weekend in Caribbean: THIS is how to Maximize a large Instagram Following

Posted on January 8, 2014

America’s Next Top Model Cycle 3 winner and actress Eva Marcille has shown how to use Instagram to market an event. The mom-to-be and TV hostess offered some of the young women among her nearly half a million people who follow her on Instagram and nearly quarter million on Twitter a chance to hang out with her in the Caribbean this May.

We suppose this will be a post baby trip as the former reality TV star and her beau music producer Kevin McCall are expecting their daughter pretty soon.

Starcast

It took less than 3 days for the 20 spots to fill up in each of the countries/properties on her tour: Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Barbados and Anguilla. For packages starting at $800, the All Girls Caribbean Weekend includes hanging with Eva, professional photo shoots, make overs, fashion and beauty tips, relationship talks and more. Those who pay the $2,000 each for the 5 Platinum spots on each stop get a shoot with Eva and their photos published in a non-specified magazine.

That’s not a bad deal if you can afford it and have the time off from work and/or flexibility. And it is also for social good as a portion of the proceeds from the weekends will go to a group called The Right to Rights Foundation, which appears to promote awareness of Human Rights abuse and violations.

And who knows, if she gets consent from participants, she could partner with a production company to film parts of the adventure to sell as a short-run docu series to a cable network.

NBCUniversal

She previously starred with her girlfriends in the 2012 Oxygen channel reality TV show she produced called Girlfriend Confidential: LA which got a pretty good review as a mostly positive show about the importance of strong female friendships from Common Sense Media. It didn’t get picked up for a second season, meanwhile BadGirls Club is on Season 17. (hmmm. Marinate on that for a bit)

Anywhoo….each day, we see in Instagram and social media, fashion bloggers wearing clothes provided to them by brands who pay the most popular ones upwards to thousands of dollars in promotional funds to do so. It’s great to see these partnerships between influentials and companies take off.

Some people just love social media for its ability to connect with friends, old and new. Others for just clowning around, sharing, news links and memes and getting a distraction from their daily day and life.

And then there are others who use it fully to maximize entrepreneurial and brand promotional opportunities.

Kudos to Eva for using her celeb status and ample following to connect with her fans and followers.

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7 Practical Tips for teaching Financial Literacy to Children

Posted on January 8, 2014

January has been designated National Financial Wellness month in the U.S. It’s a good time for parents to make resolutions that are achievable for themselves but it can also serve as teachable moments for children. The average adult will make thousands of financial decisions during the next year, including many which will be made with kids watching or listening.

“Parents need to do something totally different when it comes to their children learning the basic principles surrounding personal finance. I believe we are way beyond the point when stressing the use of piggy banks

and comic books as the tools to learn about managing money is a good idea. We live in a world which uses terms like ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘Cashless Society’, yet as parents we expect our children to fend for themselves or learn with antiquated methods using nickles, dimes and bills stuffed in a plastic pig!” says Greg Murset, CEO of MyJobChart.com a free, easy to use, online and mobile job chart and reward system designed to teach, organize and motivate kids to earn, save, share and spend responsibly. “Help your child be financially smart by teaching them in more relevant ways and reinforcing working for what they want, saving for the future, spending wisely and donating money when they can to help others.”

To help move your children in the right direction in 2014, Murset offer the following out of the box suggestions:

1. No More Hand Outs. Start the year off right by deciding that you are not going to just shell out money to your kids anymore. When they come to looking for money, let them know that they will have to work for it. The bank is now closed unless they start pulling their weight a little more around the house. Tying work and reward together in some meaningful ways will help them understand responsibility and accountability. It will also help them understand that in real life, no one ever gets money for doing nothing.

2. Smash The Piggy Bank. Piggy Banks are a bad way to teach kids about money. That’s right, take that piggy bank and smash it or throw it away. Long gone are the days when we should be teaching our kids about money by dropping coins into a bank that looks like a pig, jar or favorite sport team mascot. Using banks like these only teach children about money in a manner that isn’t as relevant anymore. Get them a real bank account and teach them how to manage their money though online services. It is far more useful to learn to manage money in a bank rather than a pig.

3. Make Kids Pay… For The Cell Phone, That Is. According to Consumer Reports the average mobile phone user spends about $600 a year. If you do the math, you’re going to be shocked at how much you are going to be shelling out over the years so that your kids can send hundreds of meaningless texts each month to their friends! Kids should pay some, or all of their phone bill each month. This is a perfect opportunity for you to sit down and teach your children about how much things cost, especially things that they seem to think they are entitled to for some reason. This is also a great time to discuss the things that they can do around the house to earn the money to help pay that bill.

4. Play The Match Game. Set up a matching program for your kids. They save a dollar and you match that dollar. Yes, 100% return. Sit down and determine what they would like to save for and then set out to accomplish it together. This is a great opportunity to talk about short term, mid-term and long term goals. When a child learns the power of savings like this at an early age, what do you think will happen when they get their first job and they learn about the 401(k) program that is available?

5. Comic Books To Teach Kids About Money? Now That’s Just Dumb. Last year Visa teamed up with Marvel to put a comic book together to teach kids about personal banking practices. Talk about a square peg in a round hole. They supposedly were going to distribute 150,000 of these square pegs in eight different languages. Why does something as important as personal finance have to be jammed into little white blurbs above super heroes heads in a comic book? Parents should be fighting to get personal finance taught in our schools, this way, comic books can remain fun.

6. Make Them Better Givers. No matter how your children earn their money, make sure they plan to donate a portion of it to a charity of their choice. The average American gives away about 4% of their annual income to charity and perhaps that percentage would increase if the next generation made giving a common practice as soon as they learned how to throw coins into a bucket.

7. Set Goals That Are Meaningful. A start of a new year is a great time to sit down with children and talk goals. Meaningful goals. Help your children put together a plan on working toward and saving for something significant. It could be a bike, musical instrument, laptop computer or go-kart. The more meaningful the item, the harder our kids will work to earn it and they will take care of it.

With these suggestions, hopefully our children will be well equipped to avoid useless spending and learn great habits for the future.

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Happy 2nd Birthday, Blue Ivy (“Blue” VIDEO & STILLS)

Posted on January 7, 2014

After Suri Cruise came Blue Ivy to top the reign as the most famous baby in Show biz. The super cute curly-haired daughter to pop singer Beyonce Knowles Carter and her husband Shawn “Jay Z” Carter turns 2 today.

Happy Birthday!

And appropriately, here are stills and a 30 seconds snippet from of the video to a tribute song, aptly titled “Blue” to her by her mama from her latest album “Beyonce.”

And another thing, when will someone blog a Blue version of Suri’s Burn Book? Call us so we can collaborate! We’ll host it here! Thanks!

Enjoy!

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Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt